I know an elderly man who was (note the ‘was’) very ill for quite a while and signed over his power of attorney to a family friend. This elderly man died about a year ago. The dead man had (surprisingly to me, at least) a significant estate (in the seven figure range) and a brother who should have been his heir.
Note the ‘should’.
Bear in mind I got all this secondhand.
The man with PoA began to transfer ownership of the estate to himself or change the inheritor (what’s the word for that?) to himself while the man was alive.
After he died it all went to him. And I’m told he’s let few people see the will and plans to destroy it sometime soon.
Now I’ve tried to get a bundle of people involved. From national elderly associations to Cook County and Chicago police and social services and others and I keep getting routed from department to department and no one seems willing to look into it or even do more than say ‘Yep, that sounds bad. Let me give you this other number to call.’
At one point I was even put in the dreaded ‘circle of doom’ where my seventh call of the day routed me back to my first!
AGH!!!
I’d even settle for a damn greedy lawyer who just wants to pursue the case for the brother for a third of the take. But I don’t know who to call!
Meanwhile the (possibly) theiving bastard buys himself a boat, a big house in the west suburbs, and even tickets to the NLCS between the Cubs and the Marlins!!!
Look, maybe the 'theiving bastard is on the up and up. Maybe the dead guy DID tell him to change it all over. But I want to see some fucking evidence, first.
Call me cynical.
ARGH!!!
AND I’ve got to go to a fucking holiday party at this bastards new house over the holidays.
The problem you’ve got is, I think, that the old guy gave this guy PoA. That settles it, and unless the old guy tried to yank it before he died, then the PoA guy is basically untouchable.
Sucks, but then, the old guy should have been more careful.
Was the will drawn up by a lawyer? Any way of finding out which one? It is possible that the lawyer has a copy of the will on file?
If it is known that a will exists and if you have any standing whatsoever as a possible beneficiary either of the estate absent a will or as a beneficiary of the will, run-don’t-walk to a lawyer of your own and find out about filing a claim against the estate, including an injunction to stop the destruction of any documents related to the estate and a notice of discovery. Or get the brother to a lawyer to file said claim. Whether or not the shenanigans this guy pulled prior to the gentleman’s death can be undone is beyond my ability to comment but steps must be taken to preserve evidence.
The brother really needs to get a consutation with an attorney ASAP. There might be a consutation fee and retainer, but in this case is will be chump change compared to what is at stake.
One question…did the deceased LIKE his brother enough to leave his estate to him?
It’s easy to get incensed at stuff like this, but honestly there are just too many unknowns to effectively judge the case. Personally, perhaps this guy is a bit of a prick, but so what? He befriended a rich guy, and managed to score an inhertiance. Sucks for the brother, but no one said life was fair, survival of the fittest and all that.
Moreover, who wants to go up against a guy who now has the resources to dig in for a good long legal fight? Like I said, it sucks for the brother, but that ship has sailed man.
Ditto what the others have been saying: call an attorney, preferably one whose principal practice involves trusts and estates. The state bar where you live will be able to help you find a practitioner in that speciality area.
The POA most certainly does not “just settle it.” I’m not an estates lawyer, nor am I licensed in your jurisdiction (and this is not legal advice, and you are not my client, and again, you should see a licensed practitioner in your area), but off the top of my head I’d be curious to know if the law of your state imposed any kinds of fiduciary duties on those who hold power of attorney, duties which this guy might have violated. I’d also be pretty darned surprised if the law of your state allowed the holder of a POA to change the disposition scheme in a will.
This is the kind of situation lawyers were made for. It’s worth your time (or more likely, the brother’s time) to talk to one.
Incidentally, the Illinois State Bar has a nifty web page to help you find a practitioner in your area with a particular area of specialization. Give it a whirl:
I know the brother’s name but not any way to contact him.
I have no standing at all to pursue this. I am motivated solely by a sense of justice.
I have been told by an Illinois based estate attourney that in these cases malfeasance is assumed on the part of a holder of PoA when benefits get switched over. But the cops I talked to said I had no standing to file a complaint.
What I NEED is to find an attourney who can track down the brother based upon the name and is willing to pursue the case.
Doesn’t matter. If there’s a will, the will controls who gets the estate. If there’s no will, intestacy statutes determine who inherits. If the brother is the only surviving relative, odds are the estate goes to him whether the deceased liked him or not.
How about calling someone in the press? Chicago must be full of columnists who’d love to get a hold of a juicy story about a nefarious deed the city bureaucracy can’t be arsed to notice.
I keep hearing that for a hundred bucks, there’s investigators who can and will find anyone for you if you have sufficient identifying info, assuming they haven’t done a Unabomber-style total dropout-from-society number.
And re phone book searches: didn’t the larger libraries used to have phone books of major cities? Or is that all on disk nowadays, and/or on the Internet white pages?
Dude, you’re looking for a skiptracer, not a full-fledged fedora-wearing PI. Most PIs should have a skiptracer that they can call/on staff and they generally charge a flat rate. If you know the dude’s brother’s name, approx. age, area where he might be living, you should be fine. I know someone who charges $85 for this. Probably more than you’re expecting to pay, but less than Sam Spade.
Since they’re searching public records, you don’t need a warrant or anything, it’s up to the discretion of the PI in question.
Oh, the last line of my post should read: “Since they’re searching public records, you don’t need a warrant or anything, it’s up to the discretion of the PI in question whether or not they will take your case.”
Since it’s Dewey asking: Under Illinois law, the holder of a power attorney is usually condsidered to be a fiduciary, and any dealings between the holder of the POA (or any other fiduciary) are presumed to be a breach of that fiduciary duty, which can only be overcome if the fiduciary comes forward with clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. Further, absent unusually compelling circumstances, I can’t see a court allowing asset transfers which go against the disposition scheme in a will.
Afraid that’s all I’m going to say here. I was going to try to help the OP, but then I realized that doing so would violate the “damn greedy lawyer” code.
Disclaimer: Although IAAL (and, coincidentally, AL licensed in Illinois with an office in Chicago who researched a similar situation earlier this year), I ain’t your lawyer and this is general information and not legal advice. See a lawyer in real life (greedy or not) licensed in Illinois for that.